An Aba South Senior Magistrate’s Court has decided that 60-year-old Chukwuemeka Orji, a pastor of the Assemblies of God Church in Ukonu Street, off Ngwa Road, Aba, Abia State be detained at the correctional facility on Tuesday after he reportedly repeatedly defiled a 13-year-old girl who shared his flat.

The underage girl (name withheld) said in court that the pastor had frequently sexually abused her.

She claimed that after Orji raped her on the third count, she contacted Mercy, who faced Orji and questioned him about the accusation, but the pastor refuted the accusation in front of his wife.

However, she claimed that Orji persistently raped and threatened to return her to her parents who live in Ugwunagbo community if she exposed him.

She said that the threats kept her from discussing what had happened with her parents, who attend a different branch of the same church.

She added that on June 15 after Orji’s wife had left for the market, he demanded that she had sex with him, but she declined since she was on her period.

She claimed, however, that Orji made her suck his manhood, which she found repulsive.

The teenage girl also claimed that he told her to mow the overgrown grass in their compound “as a punishment” because she was unable to satisfy him.

She said that she wept her way to school on June 15 after the incident and the proprietor of her school asked her why she was crying, to which she replied honestly.

She claimed that the police were then asked to investigate the situation.

According to NAN, after hearing the charge read to him, Orji reportedly entered a not-guilty plea.

The Magistrate, Mrs. Jane Young-Daniel, called Orji’s wife on her mobile phone after he gave his own version of what transpired and asked whether she was aware of the accusation levelled against her husband.

It was gathered that Mercy initially denied hearing about the accusation but subsequently acknowledged hearing it and confronting her husband, whom she claimed denied the accusation.

The police prosecutor, Mrs. Mary Udoji, pleaded with the court to deny the defendant’s admission on bail to stop him from sexually assaulting the girl in the future.

After learning that the girl had been in police custody for some time, the magistrate, Young-Daniel directed that she be immediately taken back to her parents.

She also mandated Orji’s detention at the Aba Correctional Facility and scheduled a hearing for July 6 and 18 on this case.